


Return

by bardofapollo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altea (Voltron), Canonical Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Fluff, Gen, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Past Allura/Lance (Voltron), Post-Canon, Post-War, Reader Hurt/Comfort, Soft Keith (Voltron), Talking, Temporary Character Death, fuck season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 07:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18586678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bardofapollo/pseuds/bardofapollo
Summary: Usually when he woke up in the night the red Paladin felt startled, but the gentle breeze from their open windows on New Altea blew the sweet smell of juniberries into their bedroom. There was nothing threatening in the shadows of the morning. He knew Allura still protected this place. He could feel her presence was near.---The war is over, and the universe is healing. So are the protagonists and their relationships.





	Return

Lance and Keith had fallen asleep hours ago. Lance was still completely out, the only indication he was alive being the subtle rise and fall of his stomach and the striking glow of the blue sickles on his cheeks.    
Keith was awake, or was beginning to be. He was still surrounded by the warmth of his lover and the sheets that had tangled around their legs and completely went against their intended purpose, leaving Lance’s legs exposed to the night air in all his lion boxer clad glory.    
Usually when he woke up in the night the red Paladin felt startled, but the gentle breeze from their open windows on New Altea blew the sweet smell of juniberries into their bedroom. There was nothing threatening in the shadows of the morning. He knew Allura still protected this place. He could feel her presence was near.    
He sat up towards the window, careful not to disturb his lover, he waited for what he knew was coming. A visitor was on her way, one that had been dearly missed. He knew her presence well, he felt it every time he came here. It grew stronger on the anniversary of her sacrifice, though he wasn’t sure the humans felt it too.    
As he anticipated, the pink Paladin blew into the room like pollen from the flowers on their patio. Most people would feel threatened to see the ghost of their fiancés ex girlfriend appear in their bedroom, but she was a friend he knew all too well.    
  
“Hi Allura,” he whispered to the glowing spirit.    
“Keith,” she smiled. “Do not worry, he won’t wake up unless I ask him to.”    
He nodded. As much as he felt like Lance should see her, he was afraid of it hurting him. He spent so much time recovering from her loss, he doesn’t know what he would do if she was back in a way that he could never have her.    
“You’ve never fully manifested before,” he said at a normal volume. “What’s going on?”   
“Still straight to the point I see. Sparing me the pleasantries?”   
“Oh come on Allura, I know you’ve been following the celebration and speeches all day. I figured you don’t need to hear our undying professions of loyalty and friendship again.”    
She glided across the room to sit in a white padded chair, one you might see by a fireplace back on Earth. With an Altean touch of sleekness of course.    
“You and your assumptions, Keith. You just love to try to read me don’t you? Of course you’re right, but it wouldn’t kill you to pretend you didn’t know.”   
“Red is the lion of emotion and passion. I’ve been able to feel you and your emotions this entire time. I have to hide that from everyone save for Coran, why should I hide it from you?” He turned on the bed to sit sideways, away from Lance and towards the Queen. “But I’m not gonna be rude. What’s on your mind? That you want to actually tell me of course.”    
  
She made a sort of “tch” noise with her tongue. He wasn’t entirely sure how she did that, considering she’s pure energy and light. But then again her vocal cords shouldn’t even be able to vibrate if they don’t exist.

She rose from her seat. “You wound me Paladin! I come all the way back to talk to you and this is how you treat me,” she dramatically wails. “But you’re right of course, I did come here with a specific goal in mind. Not just to bother you. There’s a reason I came specifically to you as well.”

Keith raised his eyebrows. “You mean besides the fact I know you’ve been here the whole time?”

She slumped and sighed. She was awfully lively for a dead woman. “Yes, Keith. Believe it or not I still have a great deal of trust in you and think you are special.”

He shifted and tensed his shoulders. “Even though I’m with Lance?”

She glided over and placed an arm on his shoulder. It felt like wind resting there. “Specifically because of that.”

He inched over and let her sit on the bed next to him. “You aren’t veiling a bunch of.. I dunno.. Bad stuff from me because of that?”

She smiled sadly and took his hands. “I’ve known about Lance’s feelings for you from day one. I’ve known you were meant for him and he was meant for you. I love Lance, as I love you, but not in the way you love each other. You give him the support I could never provide, and he is your stability.”

Keith felt his eyes water but he willed the tears to stay in their ducts. This wasn’t about him. This was about Allura.

“What are you going to do now Allura? I can feel you manifesting here. You’re touching me right now, your quintessence is here. In this reality.” 

“I’m saying goodbye, Keith. I’ve been following you Paladins for years now, making sure the galaxy treats you right and you take care of each other. I needed to talk to you in particular because you would notice my leave, and I couldn’t go without explanation.

“Thank you for taking care of Lance. I need to leave you two and stay here on Altea. Voltron might return one day with new paladins, and I must watch over this planet for when the Lions come home.” 

Pure energy was dripping down her cheeks now. But that’s all she was. She felt so solid. He hugged her tightly, scrunching his hands in the fabric of her dress.

“Take good care of each other, my friend.”

“We will Allura. We always will,” he whispered. 

 

With that her quintessence dissipated and he turned back to look at his lover. He slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of the fact that he had to say goodbye to his friend once more. He crawled back under the covers, snaking his arms around Lance. He shifted back and snuggled into Keith, almost if he knew he had Allura’s blessing. With that they returned to the unconscious safety of morning.

**Author's Note:**

> :,^)
> 
> https://linktr.ee/fructosefolk


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